Friends and foes, we have another battle this weekend.
On one hand you have the ravens of Baltimore, and on the other hand you have the bills of
Buffalo, all being fought on the cold Tundra, and on the other hand you have the Texans
of Houston and the Chiefs of Kansas City, and on the other hand you have the Eagles
of Philadelphia and the Rams of LA, as well as the Commanders of Washington, even though
they are in Maryland technically speaking.
Do not argue with thee, but argue with thine self, and on the other hand you have the Lions
of Detroit, all fighting for one goal, and that is to be a champion.
Who will win these battles?
Who will advance to the next round of the tournament?
We will all find out on this weekend.
So until then, I am your host with the most.
Your GM who currently is not on a team right now, but don't you worry your very minds about
that, my dear fellow people.
Now I am also your GM, your Bagro Domus, the one who gives predictions of all things related
to the bag as well as things connected to the National Football League.
I am your host Kale.
Yes, my tone is a little bit different.
We're going to do something a little bit different because this is the 60th episode of the Junkies
Football Podcast, or as we say it in layman's term, the Football Junkies Podcast.
I am your host Kale.
You already know what we've already said.
Prior to this point, so on three, let us all say it in a joyous way.
One, two, three, lock in, we shall.
All right, folks, let's just get into the meat and potatoes and everything that is going
on in the league right now.
Yes, I decided to switch things up a little bit just to keep you guys on your toes.
Okay, I'm letting you know right now this episode is going to be fairly short, simply
because outside of all the coaching interviews and whatnot, there's really not a lot going
on.
Honestly, I could talk about what happened with Mike Tomlin, but don't nobody really
care about that.
I'll save all of my opinions and all those different types of things.
Once we get to the episode when I talk about the entire offseason for all 32 teams, I'll
probably break it down division by division just so we can stress things out a little
bit because these episodes are going to be fairly pretty long because I'm going to be
doing an in-depth analysis of every single team, cap space, positional needs, where they
are on the draft, what they should do in free agency, all those different types of things
and more.
Once the season is completely over, that's when we'll do it.
But until then, we still got some games that we have to talk about.
Let's get into all the playoff games that are going on right now.
Let us start with the Ravens and Bills.
For me personally, I think this is going to be a really good game.
On top of that, apparently it's supposed to be snowing.
You already know.
Snow games, especially in the playoffs, legendary.
Now, it may not be the best for the players, but for us as the consumers, we're probably
going to want to love it.
But let's just get into these junky nuggets that I found on Pro NFL.
Shout out to them.
In-zone coverage.
Lamar threw for 2,989 passing yards, 23 touchdowns and 3 picks and 9.5 yards per 10.
The Bills played 76.3% of snaps in-zone coverage, which is the eighth highest rate in the league
and allowed 17 touchdowns and intercepted 12 passes.
And the Bills have loaded the box 43.1%, which is a little bit low compared to the league
average, which is about 45.7%.
Now this is what I will say.
For the Bills, you have a tough task and that is to try to limit both Lamar Jackson and Derek
Henry.
And the reason why I say that is because this is a type of game for someone like a Derek
Henry, those bigger, powerful running backs.
Okay.
It may not be the best for the Lucidbacks, but someone that's a old school downhill runner,
I'm going to put you in the ground type of running back.
Oh, this is perfect for them.
But even when we go a little bit more in depth with these junkie nuggets, okay, since 2018,
the Ravens averaged 7.1 yards per play when using motion.
And in week four, when the receivers were open, Lamar Jackson was 12 for 13, 144 yards
and 2 touchdowns.
I'm just going to be honest here.
If it was me personally, I wouldn't let Zay Flores play this game.
I would save him for the AFC championship.
Most likely you're either going to go up against the Chiefs or the Texans.
So you want to be prepared for that ensemble.
Now the expectation for the Bills is most likely they are going to load up the box and
they're going to try to limit Derek Henry in the beginning of the game.
But we all know Derek Henry being the battering ram that he is.
At some point he's going to break through and he's going to make that big run.
And when he does, that is going to be the start of many.
Now the question is how exactly are they going to try to mitigate Derek Henry?
There is no answer because it's not going to happen because as of right now, in my eyes,
I feel like the Bills defense is not equipped to stop Derek Henry.
If it was someone like a Justice Hill or somebody else, yeah, they could definitely do the thing.
But someone like a Derek Henry that's going to wear down on defenses.
They may start out perfectly fine at first.
But as the game continues to go on, they're going to get more tired and worn down.
And before you know it, guess what?
Those gaps get a little bit more open and he's hitting the home run every single time.
He is going for the touchdown straight up the middle or somewhere else.
And guess what? most likely he is stiff arming somebody before he gets to the end zone.
So the Bills have a tall task ahead of them.
When it comes to Derek Henry, I think they'll be able to hold their own against, you know,
Isaiah likely and Mark Andrews and Rashad Bateman.
But only time will tell.
Now when we shift things over to the Bills, though, I think the Bills are going to be
playing catch up this entire game simply because for one, they don't have the secondary to
compete with the Ravens, as well as we all know that if Josh Allen does not have a really
good game, oh, they're screwed.
So they're going to have to try to put as many points as they can on the board every
chance that they get instead of going for, you know, the fourth and one or instead of
trying to make, you know, a crazy pass or whatever, just get the three or just try to,
you know, get the touchdown and just, just do the routine things.
Just try to put as many points on the board because you already know once the Ravens get
into a rhythm, once they figure out, okay, this works in this situation.
Okay, we got a little bit of traction.
Oh, that's it.
Because again, I want people to understand this.
The Ravens are just as dangerous on offense as they are on defense.
And that defense is built to put a lot of pressure on someone like a Josh Allen.
Okay, those patch rushers, they're cooking right now.
Kyle Van Noy, he's cooking right now.
So you have a mixture of that on top of Kyle Hamilton may either be put in the box or he's
going to pay or he's going to play in the backfield.
Now if he plays in the box, that's going to limit James Cook.
But if he plays more in the backfield, that keeps a lid over any deep passes that that
the bills may try to do me personally, I think they're going to try to put a lid on a Mario
Cooper because we all know a Mario Cooper is still dangerous.
I don't care, you know, what this stat says or what that stat says.
When you need a Mario Cooper, a Mario Cooper is going to make a play.
So if they can limit a Mario Cooper and force Josh Allen to rely on Mack Hollins, Curtis
Samuel, Keon Coleman and company, I think things could be in the Ravens favor.
Just being honest, now there's probably a whole bunch of people that are saying, well,
you're rooting for the Ravens more than anything.
No, but what I realize is the Ravens as a whole is better equipped for this game than
what the bills are.
Now granted, the bills, they are a really good team.
I'm not taking that away from them.
But me personally, I don't see anybody on the bills team that can try to mitigate Derek
Henry, that can try to limit Mark Andrews and Isaiah likely and Rashad Bateman.
They don't have the secondary that they used to have where they used to have Trey White
and you know, both of the safeties and Tremaine Edmonds and company, they don't have that
no more.
So again, this is going to be a team effort for the bills.
It really is and they're going to have to keep things close.
If they can keep things close, they could possibly win this game.
But if the distance starts to, you know, stretch out a little bit, little by little, hold on,
no, that's it.
That is if that is a wrap.
Folks, get ready to go to Cancun.
One, two, three, Cancun.
Now for the commanders and Lions game, this game is a little bit more interesting for
me personally.
And the reason why I say that is because here you have someone in Jaden Daniels who continues
to be a magician, game in and game out.
You're going up against the Lions.
Now granted, I understand there are people are saying, well, I think the Lions can beat
the commanders.
Oh, hold on there.
Pause the breaks.
I think the commanders may have a chance of beating the Lions.
I really do.
And the only reason why I say that is because this commander's team, I don't know what it
is, but it's just something special about them.
I don't know.
I don't know if it's Jaden Daniels.
I don't know if it's just, you know, their story this entire season.
I don't know what it is, but it's something special about them that I think they can try
to do the impossible and beat the Lions.
And I'm not saying that the commander's going to go to the Super Bowl, but what I am saying
is this could be a very close game.
When we look at these junkie nuggets, okay, when facing man coverage, Jarragov completed
71.3% of his passes and through 20 touchdowns and no picks.
So you already know if he sees man coverage, oh, barbecue chicken, barbecue chicken alert,
barbecue chicken alert, barbecue chicken alert already.
All right.
Now, when we look at, you know, these other junkie nuggets on design runs under center,
the Lions gained 1,801 rushing guards.
Okay.
So expect for them to be under center a lot in this game.
Now the question is how effective will this run game be against the commander's defensive
line?
Because remember, you got Franky Louvue, you got Dante Fowler, June, you got Jonathan
Allen, you got Durand Payne and you got Johnny Newton.
So I think this defensive line could try to limit the run game for the Lions.
Now I'm not saying they're going to try to, you know, disable it completely, but I do
think they do have the personnel that can try to limit them as much as they can.
If they do, you can keep this game fairly close.
Now when we look at things for the commanders though, when targeting Goal Rouse, Jaden Daniels
throws the most touchdowns without any interceptions and the commanders utilize man blitzes 21.1
0.9% of pass rushes this season.
So expect for them to blitz at some point in this game.
Now the question is how is the blitz going to look like?
Because we've seen them blitz with Franky Louvue, we've seen them blitz with Dante
Fowler, Jr.
We've seen them blitz with slot corners.
So prepare for the blitz.
I can already tell you right now, Jerichoff probably has that written on a notepad or
something to watch out for the blitzes because they're going to try to put pressure on Jerichoff.
Now the question is, will that pressure convert into interceptions or, you know, fourth announce
or whatever?
Who knows?
But I will say this is going to be a really good game.
I'm not saying it's going to be a high scoring game, but I think as long as the commander's
defense keeps them in this game, I think there's a fair, there's a fair enough chance.
I'm not saying, you know, the commander's going to come in and just destroy the Lions.
No.
But what I am saying is this, they can do something.
They can do something.
I'm just, I'm just saying, I keep on saying it.
The commanders might do something crazy.
And if they do, man, oh man.
Now let's get into this Texans in chiefs game.
Okay.
So the game that me personally, I feel like it's going to be another upset.
Now you're probably thinking, why do you think all these upsets?
Because when we look at things from a broader perspective, right, especially for the Texans,
the Texans defense, especially their patch rushers can create enough pressure on my homes
because let's be real here.
Those tackles, they know they can't get off super early because you already know most
likely it's going to get called.
And you're going to be going up against the Neil Hunter and will Anderson.
That's a tough, a tough, tough, tough assignment.
And I don't think they're going to be prepared for it.
Not to mention the chiefs are going to have a tough decision that they're going to have
to make either use Travis Kelsey for extra blocker or try to see if they can get the
ball off as super quick as possible.
Because as of right now, either the Neil Hunter is going to get through or will Anderson is
going to get through or the both of them want to get through.
And if the both of them get through, Patrick Mahomes is going down.
Just saying.
But when we look at these junkie nuggets here, okay, Patrick Mahomes is six and no in divisional
round matchups.
Okay, Will Anderson and the Neil Hunter, as we just talked about, combined for 24 and
a half sacks a season, that is tied for the most of any duo in the league right now.
Since their week 11 loss against the bills, Mahomes has thrown for 11 touchdowns and no
picks.
That is the most passing touchdowns without a pick in the league over a span.
The Texans have utilized 12 personnel on 31.7% this season, including the playoffs, which
is the fifth highest in the league.
So expect for the Texans to try to run, try to, you know, bring things down to their level.
Because we all know the recipe for beating the Chiefs is you have to create a lot of
pressure on Patrick Mahomes and you have to win the time of possession.
Because the longer that you keep Mahomes on the bench, the better chance that you have
it winning.
Because if you don't let him sit, Patrick Mahomes is going to be a magician.
We have seen it before.
It's sort of the same thing with Brady.
The only reason why certain teams were successful against Brady because why they controlled
the time of possession.
When you control the time of possession, you can basically control the trajectory of the
game.
Now, the problem that I do have with this game though is the Texans offensive line is
not that strong.
And you know, most likely Spax is going to have Chris Jones here or there everywhere.
Okay.
Probably going to have him lined up on the edge.
Probably some, you know, sometimes in the middle, one on the other edge, he's going
to be everywhere.
Okay.
So you know, you're going to have to keep a close eye on Chris Jones as well as George
Coloftus.
All right.
But outside of that, I think this is somewhat of an even playing field for both teams.
Because let's be real here.
That game against the Chargers, the Texans were not doing well at first.
It was mainly the defense that was keeping them in games.
So CJ Stroud and that offense, especially the offensive line, they're going to have to step
up.
They're going to have to make plays because if not, the Chiefs are going to do Chiefs
things.
And before you know it, they're going to be headed to another AFC Championship.
Now on to the final game that we have to talk about, and that is the Rams and the Eagles.
Another game that I think it could be an upset, just saying, I understand there are people
that are saying, why do you think so many upsets?
It's because we have seen the underdogs come in and you're thinking, oh, they're not going
to be able to hold their own against this team.
Oh, they can't hold a candle with them.
Next thing you know, that team that everybody was putting money on, guess what?
They are heading to Cancun.
But let's get into these junkie nuggets right now.
So when AJ Brown, Devonte Smith and Jalen Hertz are all active, Jalen Hertz is 10 and
0 with 27 touchdowns, 0 picks and a 112.5 passer rating.
The Rams offense have the second highest rate of motion and 82.1%.
The Eagles use four man fronts at 70.3% of plays, which is the sixth highest in the league.
Matthew Stafford executed 67 ruleouts this season, which was the second most in the league.
Now while he did this, he was 48 of 66 with his passes, which is 72.7% for 437 yards,
which was the second most in the league, along with nine touchdowns without no picks.
Expect this game to be offensively driven.
Expect this game to be somewhat of a shootout.
But I do think the Eagles do have the advantage over the Rams, only because defensively they
have the corners and the defensive line that can create pressure on Matthew Stafford.
When we look at things from the defensive side, though, especially for the Rams, the
Rams secondary isn't strong enough to go up against this Eagles offense, especially,
you know, AJ Brown and Devonte Smith and Jahan Dotson and company, I just don't see it.
I really don't.
I think the Eagles are going to come out guns blazing, create a lead and basically just
put all of the pressure they can on the Rams.
We already know what Seyquan Barkley is going to do.
Okay, you already know, most likely at first he may have a little bit of some struggles,
but as the game continues to go on, Seyquan is going to do Seyquan things.
Okay, we've seen it before.
Now the question is, what chapter is AJ Brown going to be on in this game?
But on a serious note, though, I do think each and every one of these games are fairly
balanced.
I don't think one team or the other team, you know, has the advantage.
I think these are going to be very close games down to the wire.
And I think if I'm the rest for any of these games, I'm staying out of them.
I am letting the players dictate the ending of this game.
I am not trying to intervene as much.
Now if it's something egregious, okay, yeah, fine, cool.
Throw up the flag, but all that, you know, tip for tat and I'm going to call more flags
on this team because I don't like this team.
And my record shows that when I referee games with this team playing, I usually do it with
them.
No, call it down the middle, fair.
And that's it.
Just leave it alone because I'm telling you, if this game is handled by the refs, man,
oh man, are you going to have some angry fans?
I'm going to end this episode right here.
I told you guys I was going to keep things light because again, there's not a whole lot
to talk about.
Sure, I can talk about all the interviews and whatnot.
That really doesn't matter until people are actually hired, which that probably won't
happen until the Super Bowl, maybe depending on who wins and who loses.
But make sure you guys download the episode so I can recognize and see what you guys
like so I can give you the fix that you guys need and love.
Okay.
Also, make sure that you guys leave a review and please five stars, please, please, please.
I don't ask for a whole lot.
Just please five stars and review.
That means the world to me.
Now, for my YouTube people, Football Junkies Pod, okay, Football Junkies Pod.
When you go on our YouTube page, there is a link, the link tree, okay?
When you go in that link tree, it will take you to anywhere and everywhere that we have
Football Junkies content, whether that be TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, Blue Sky, and
of course YouTube, but there's no need for you to do that because you're already on the
YouTube, right?
Now, for my TikTok people, Football Junkies Pod, okay, Football Junkies Pod.
I'm going to try to see if I can crank out some clips this weekend, okay?
Because I know you guys, you know, haven't missed some clips.
Oh, I forgot as well for my TikTok people.
I'm going to be posting mock drafts for every single team moving forward.
So I did the Steelers yesterday.
Let me know which team I should do today.
All right.
Now for my Instagram people, Football underscore junkies pod, okay, Football underscore junkies
pod, junkies pod is not what it is together, not spaced.
It is together, not spaced.
Football underscore junkies pod, junkies pod is together, not spaced.
Is there anything else that I'm missing?
Oh, follow me on Twitter, GM underscore kale, okay?
GM underscore kale.
That's where I do all my arguing with fellow fans, especially Steelers fans about why we
should draft defensive linemen and possibly corners in the first round instead of getting
receivers.
Man, oh man, have I been going back and forth with everybody this past week in the week
prior.
So, hey, you're going there.
We're going to have a debate.
Okay.
I'm going to share my thoughts, I'm going to share my views, I'm going to share my opinions
about where your team is, but it's all love at the end of the day.
Now for my blue sky people, okay?
GM kale blue sky.
All right.
GM kale blue sky.
That's where you can find me on blue sky, post all of the episodes as well on there.
I got to start posting more content on there as well.
So as always, I hope I gave you guys the fixes you guys need.
I love you guys.
I appreciate you guys so much.
Thank you for listening up until this point.
60 episodes, folks.
60 episodes.
That means we are 40 episodes away from a hundred episodes, but I love you guys.
I appreciate you guys so much.
This is your GM kale signing out.
Peace and love.
Thanks so much for listening literature.